Personal beverage warmers and coolers for vehicle seats

ABSTRACT

Example personal beverage warmers and coolers for vehicle seats are disclosed. A disclosed example apparatus to regulate the temperature of a beverage near a seat of a vehicle, the apparatus includes: a base including a thermally conductive material that conducts heat in a direction that is at least one of to or from a container seated thereon, a thermoelectric device thermally coupled with the base and to be energized to exchange heat with the base, and a heat exchanger thermally coupled with the thermoelectric device and a liquid medium to exchange heat therebetween.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/347,927, filed on May 25, 2010, and entitled“Beverage Warmer and Cooler for Aircraft Passenger Seats”, the entiretyof which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

Disclosed embodiments generally relate to apparatuses for beveragetemperature control, and, more particularly, to beverage temperaturecontrol or regulation apparatuses for vehicle seats.

BACKGROUND

Vehicles defined herein to include an automobile, a train, a truck, aboat or an aircraft, typically provide cupholders for holding beveragecontainers such as glasses, cups, bottles, cans and/or mugs. Thecupholders are generally provided in the vicinity of crew member andpassenger seats. For example, a cupholder may be provided in an armrestor console adjacent to a person's seat, but may also extend from adashboard or other surface of the vehicle. The cupholders generallyinclude a recessed portion which holds the beverage container in astationary upright position relative to the vehicle while the vehicleaccelerates, decelerates, or tilts forward, backward and to either side.

SUMMARY

Example beverage temperature control or regulation apparatuses forvehicle seats are disclosed. A disclosed example personal beveragewarmer and cooler apparatus to regulate the temperature of a beveragenear a seat of a vehicle, the apparatus includes: a base including athermally conductive material that conducts heat in a direction that isat least one of to or from a container seated thereon, a thermoelectricdevice thermally coupled with the base and to be energized to exchangeheat with the base, and a heat exchanger thermally coupled with thethermoelectric device and a liquid medium to exchange heat therebetween.

A disclosed example seating area of a vehicle includes a temperatureregulating apparatus having a base including a thermally conductivematerial that conducts heat at least one of to or from a containerseated thereon, a thermoelectric device thermally coupled with the baseand to be energized to exchange heat with the base, and a heat exchangerthermally coupled with the thermoelectric device and a liquid medium toexchange heat therebetween.

The seating area may include an additional temperature regulatingapparatus.

A disclosed example method includes energizing a thermoelectric deviceat a vehicle seat to a first state to cool a beverage containerthermally coupled to the thermoelectric device when a first user inputis received; and energizing the thermoelectric device to a second stateto heat the beverage container when a second user input is received.

The method may also include exchanging first heat between thethermoelectric device and a heat exchanger; and exchanging second heatbetween the heat exchanger and a liquid medium.

Energizing the thermoelectric device to the first state may includeapplying an electrical current to a Peltier device, and energizing thethermoelectric device to second state may include applying an oppositeelectrical current to the Peltier device.

The first user input may correspond to a first position of a switch, andthe second user input may correspond to a second position of the switch.

For any of the examples, the liquid medium may be air, the apparatus mayalso include a fan that blows air in thermal contact with the heatexchanger.

For any of the examples, the thermoelectric device may be energized by apower supply to heat the base and/or to cool the base.

For any of the examples, a switch may be used to change a polarity of apower supply that energizes the thermoelectric device, wherein a firststate of the switch may cause the power supply to cool the base, and asecond state of the switch may cause the power supply to heat the base.

For any of the examples, the base may include a lock that mates with akey of an extension insert to secure the extension insert on the base,the extension insert may be dimensioned to receive a container holdingthe beverage.

For any of the examples, the base may include a recessed portiondimensioned to receive a container holding the beverage.

Any of the examples may include a power supply and a processor, theprocessor may control the power supply to maintained a temperature ofthe beverage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates an exemplary passenger seat environment of a vehicleincluding a plurality of beverage holders.

FIG. 1B illustrates the plurality of beverage holders of FIG. 1A in moredetail.

FIG. 2A schematically illustrates an exemplary personal beverage warmerand cooler including a thermoelectric device configured to cool abeverage.

FIG. 2B schematically illustrates an exemplary personal beverage warmerand cooler including a thermoelectric device configured to warm abeverage.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate opposite side views of an exemplary personalbeverage warmer and cooler.

FIG. 4A illustrates a cross-sectional view of the exemplary personalbeverage warmer and cooler of FIGS. 3A and 3B including a beveragecontainer seated therein.

FIGS. 4B and 4C illustrate exemplary beverage containers includingextension inserts and configured to be securely seated in the beveragewarmer and cooler of FIG. 4A.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate the exemplary personal beverage warmer andcooler of FIG. 3A in which the extension inserts of FIGS. 4B and 4C areseated, respectively.

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of another exemplary personal beveragewarmer and cooler.

FIG. 7A schematically illustrates a side view of still another exemplarypersonal beverage warmer and cooler.

FIG. 7B schematically illustrates a cut-away side view of the exemplarypersonal beverage warmer and cooler of FIG. 7A.

FIG. 8A schematically illustrates a plurality of the exemplary personalbeverage warmer and cooler of FIG. 7A adjacent to one another.

FIGS. 8B and 8C illustrate opposite side views of the plurality ofexemplary personal beverage warmer and cooler of FIG. 8A adjacent to oneanother.

FIGS. 9A-9F illustrate various views of the exemplary personal beveragewarmers and coolers of FIG. 8A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A beverage in a beverage container held in a cupholder generally doesnot stay at a desired temperature. Over time, the temperature of thebeverage generally trends toward the ambient air temperature of avehicle. For example, a hot beverage such as coffee or tea may not bekept hot, and a cold beverage such as fruit juice or soda may not bekept cold for a time period long enough to enable the person to fullyenjoy the beverage at their desired or preferred temperature. Thus, aperson may only have a limited time to drink a beverage before itstemperature becomes undesirable. While insulated beverage containers maymitigate this problem, insulated beverage containers are generally notconvenient because a beverage needs to be transferred from its originalcontainer into the insulated beverage container prior to consuming thebeverage. Additionally, the temperature of a beverage in an insulatedbeverage containers still trends toward the ambient temperature, and aperson may still only have a limited time to drink a beverage before itstemperature becomes undesirable, even if that limited time is greaterthan if the beverage were not in the insulated beverage container.

Embodiments of personal beverage warmers and coolers that address atleast some of the above problems are disclosed herein. The disclosedpersonal beverage warmers and coolers may be included in a vehicle tohold a beverage container and maintain a beverage within the beveragecontainer at a desired temperature until the beverage has been consumed.The personal beverage warmers and coolers disclosed herein may be, forexample, located in the vicinity of a person's seat, a sleeping cabinand/or at any another location within the vehicle where a person may bepresent during a journey, e.g., a lounge area where persons may gatherto enjoy food and beverages in each other's company. Additionally oralternatively, the disclosed personal beverage warmers and coolers maybe located in a pilot's cabin and/or in a galley for use by the crew ofthe vehicle. The personal beverage warmers and coolers may be configuredor enabled by each person to keep warm beverages such as coffee, tea,and hot chocolate at their desired warm temperature(s). Likewise, thepersonal beverage warmers and coolers may be set or enabled by eachperson to keep cold beverages such as soda, water, and wine at theirdesired cold temperature(s). In this way, each person may consume theirbeverages at their own pace and at their desired temperature(s).

The example personal beverage warmer and cooler disclosed herein may bean embodiment of a personal heating and cooling device, which in variousembodiments may also used for heating and cooling storage of food and/orother personal items that may benefit from or need to be stored at atemperature other than an ambient air temperature. For example, somemedications may need to be stored at a temperature lower than ambientair temperature while also being conveniently accessible to the person.

Embodiments of personal beverage warmers and coolers disclosed hereinfeature a compact design and a light weight structure, both of whichfacilitate their widespread deployment throughout an aircraft for use byindividual persons, unlike traditional refrigeration systems that aretypically concentrated in galleys for use by cabin crew on behalf of allpersons. In various embodiments, the disclosed personal beverage warmersand coolers may be integrated with aircraft heat-sink systems and/orother aircraft components to increase operational efficiency.

FIG. 1A illustrates an exemplary passenger seat environment 100 of avehicle including a plurality of beverage holders 110. The passengerseat environment 100 may be, for example, a super first class seat of anaircraft. The example passenger seat environment 100 of FIG. 1 includesa cushioned seat 120 in which a person may be seated. To the left of theseat 120 is a doorway 130 through which the person may enter and exitthe passenger seat environment 100. In front of the seat 120 is a tray140 on which the person may place reading materials such as books,magazines, and catalogs, food service items such as plates, silverware,napkins, cups, glasses, laptop computers, and/or other items that aperson may desire to have ready access to during a journey. The tray 140may be collapsible or retractable so that the person may stow the traywhen not in use. The tray 140 may be coupled with a console 150positioned to the right of the cushioned seat 120, or on an oppositeside of the passenger seat environment 100 than the doorway 130.

FIG. 1B illustrates the example plurality of beverage holders 110 ofFIG. 1A in more detail. The example beverage holders 110 may each hold adifferent beverage container. In this way, a person may convenientlyhave ready access to a plurality of beverages during a journey. Forexample, the person may have different brands of juice, water, and sodaready and available for consumption whenever the person chooses. In theillustrated example of FIGS. 1A and 1B, the beverage holders 110 arearranged in a row within a beverage holder zone 160. However, thebeverage holders 110 may be implemented in other arrangements. Thebeverage holder zone 160 may also include a beverage holder zone lid 170that may be open when beverages are placed in the beverage holders 110,and closed when no beverages are placed in the beverage holders 110. Oneor more of the beverage holders 110 may include an embodiment of thepersonal beverage warmers and coolers disclosed herein.

FIG. 2A schematically illustrates an exemplary personal beverage warmerand cooler 210 including an example thermoelectric device 220 configuredto cool a beverage. A beverage container 225 containing a beverage,which a user wants to consume cool or cold, may be seated on an examplecooling plate or base 230. The cooling plate 230 of FIG. 2A cools thebeverage through thermal contact with the beverage container 225containing the beverage. The cooling plate 230 is cooled by thethermoelectric device 220. The thermoelectric device 220 of FIG. 2A mayinclude a Peltier device that uses a Peltier effect in which a voltageis applied across or direct current (DC) is passed through twodissimilar conductors to create an electrical circuit that transfersheat in a direction of charge carrier movement. In this way, thethermoelectric device 220 provides direct heat transfer from the coolingplate 230 through the thermoelectric device 220 into a heat sink or heatexchanger 240. The heat sink 240 of FIG. 2A is cooled by air circulationdriven by a fan 250. Thus, the example device 220 of FIG. 2A isair-cooled. The thermoelectric device 220 is operated by an exampledirect current power supply 260 electrically coupled with thethermoelectric device 220 and having a polarity that causes thethermoelectric device 220 to transfer heat in a direction from thecooling plate 230 toward the heat sink 240. In some embodiments, the DCpower supply 260 is coupled with an aircraft's 28 volts of directcurrent (VDC) power supply, or converted from aircraft's fixed-frequencyor variable-frequency alternating current (AC) power.

The DC power supply 260 of FIG. 2A may be controlled by switches,electronic circuitry, or an electronic control system 265. Theelectronic circuitry or electronic control system 265 may be equippedwith temperature sensors (not shown) to monitor a temperature of thecooling plate 230 and, thus, control the thermoelectric device 220 tomaintain a desired preset or user-selectable temperature of the coolingplate 230. The electronic control system 265 may also include aprocessor and a memory (not shown) storing a software program executableby the processor for performing a method of controlling the personalbeverage warmer and cooler 210 to maintain a desired temperature of abeverage container 225 seated thereon. Additionally or alternatively,the electronic control system 265 may include one or more circuit(s),programmable processor(s), fuses, application-specific integratedcircuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)),field-programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)), and/or field-programmablegate array(s) (FPGA(s)), etc. configured to control the personalbeverage warmer and cooler 210 to maintain a desired temperature of abeverage container 225 seated thereon.

FIG. 2B schematically illustrates another exemplary personal beveragewarmer and cooler 270 including the thermoelectric device 220 configuredto warm a beverage. A beverage container 275 containing a beverage,which a user wants to consume hot or warm, may be seated on an exampleheating plate or base 280. The personal beverage warmer and cooler 270of FIG. 2B is similar to the personal beverage warmer and cooler 210 ofFIG. 2A except that a polarity of the DC power supply 260 is reversed inthe personal beverage warmer and cooler 270 compared to the personalbeverage warmer and cooler 210. In this way, the heating plate or base280 may heat the beverage through thermal contact with the beveragecontainer 275 containing the beverage. In some embodiments, the heatingplate 280 may be identical to the cooling plate 230. In other words, asingle thermal plate or base may be functional as either the coolingplate 230 or the heating plate 280 depending upon the operationalconditions of the thermoelectric device 220, that is, the selectedpolarity of the DC power supply 260. The heating plate 280 may be heatedby the thermoelectric device 220. The thermoelectric device 220 may usea Peltier effect to provide direct heat transfer to the heating plate280 through the thermoelectric device 220 from a cold side or heatexchanger 290. In some embodiments, the cold side 290 includes a heatexchanger substantially identical to that of the heat sink 240. In otherwords, a single heat exchanger may function as either the heat sink 240or the cold side 290 depending upon the operational conditions of thethermoelectric device 220, that is, the selected polarity of the DCpower supply 260. The cold side 290 of FIG. 2B is warmed by aircirculation driven by the fan 250. The thermoelectric device 220 isoperated by the DC power supply 260 electrically coupled with thethermoelectric device 220 using a polarity that causes thethermoelectric device 220 to transfer heat in a direction from the coldside 290 toward the heating plate 280. The polarity of the DC powersupply 260 in the personal beverage warmer and cooler 270 of FIG. 2B isopposite that of the polarity of the DC power supply 260 in the personalbeverage warmer and cooler 210 of FIG. 2B.

The DC power supply 260 of FIG. 2B may be controlled by switches,electronic circuitry, or an electronic control system 265. Theelectronic circuitry or electronic control system 265 may be equippedwith temperature sensors (not shown) to monitor a temperature of theheating plate 280 and, thus, control the thermoelectric device 220 tomaintain a desired preset and/or user-selectable temperature of theheating plate 280. The electronic control system 265 may also include aprocessor and a memory (not shown) including a software programexecutable by the processor for performing a method of controlling thepersonal beverage warmer and cooler 270 to maintain a desiredtemperature of a beverage container 225 seated thereon. Additionally oralternatively, the electronic control system 265 may include one or morecircuit(s), programmable processor(s), fuses, ASIC(s), PLD(s), FPLD(s),and/or FPGA(s), etc. configured to control the personal beverage warmerand cooler 270 to maintain a desired temperature of a beverage container225 seated thereon.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate opposite side views of an exemplary personalbeverage warmer and cooler 300. The example personal beverage warmer andcooler 300 of FIGS. 3A and 3B includes a control panel region 310including control switch 312 and an indicator 314. The control switch312 may include a toggle switch, a rocker switch, a button, a dial, orany other user input mechanism (e.g., a three-way switch having statesof “cold”, “warm” and “off”) by which a person may set operationalparameters for the personal beverage warmer and cooler 300. Theindicator 314 may include an incandescent light, a light emitting diode(LED), an liquid crystal display (LCD) device, or other form of displaydevice. For example, a person may set the control switch 312 to adesired heating position or user-selectable temperature, and theindicator 314 may indicate that the personal beverage warmer and cooler300 is set to a heating mode (e.g., glow red). Alternatively, the personmay set the control switch 312 to a desired cooling position oruser-selectable temperature, and the indicator 314 may indicate that thepersonal beverage warmer and cooler 300 is set to a cooling mode (e.g.,glow blue). Otherwise, the person may set the control switch 312 to anoff position, and the indicator 314 may indicate that the personalbeverage warmer and cooler 300 is turned off (e.g., glow yellow or notglow at all).

The personal beverage warmer and cooler 300 of FIGS. 3A and 3B includesan air inlet 320 through which circulating air enters and is blown by anair circulating fan 330 onto a heat exchanger such as the heat sink 240or 290 (FIGS. 2A and 2B) coupled with a thermoelectric device such asthe thermoelectric device 220. After the circulating air has exchangedheat with the thermoelectric device 220 via the heat exchanger 240 or290, the circulating air exits the personal beverage warmer and cooler300 via an air outlet 340. When the personal beverage warmer and cooler300 is operating in a heating mode, the circulating air exiting the airoutlet 340 may be cool. When the personal beverage warmer and cooler 300is operating in a cooling mode, the circulating air exiting the airoutlet 340 may be warm. The personal beverage warmer and cooler 300 mayalso include a recessed portion which holds a beverage container such asa cup or mug 350, and the personal beverage warmer and cooler 300 mayalso include a notch 360 for a handle of the cup or mug 350.

FIG. 4A illustrates a cross-sectional view of the exemplary personalbeverage warmer and cooler 300 of FIGS. 3A and 3B including an examplemug 410 seated therein. The cross-sectional view of FIG. 4A isvertically at a lowest point of the notch 360. FIGS. 4B and 4Cillustrate exemplary beverage containers including extension inserts 450and 460 and configured to be securely seated in the personal beveragewarmer and cooler 300 of FIG. 4A. The mug 410 may be designed and usedto hold a beverage after being poured out of a separate beveragecontainer into the mug 410. The extension insert 450 may be designed andused to hold a tall beverage container such as a bottle of wine, whilethe extension insert 460 may be designed and used to hold a shorterbeverage container such as a soda can.

As shown in FIG. 4A, an example locking mechanism 420 is positioned in acentral area of an example recessed portion or base 425 of the personalbeverage warmer and cooler 300 under the mug 410. The locking mechanism420 of FIG. 4A includes a cut-out region of the base 425 in which amatching key 430 of a beverage container or extension inserts 450 and460 to lock or secure the beverage container or extension inserts 450and 460 into position within the base 425 of the personal beveragewarmer and cooler 300. In some embodiments, the extension inserts 450and 460 click into place when the key 430 is inserted into the lockingmechanism 420. Additionally or alternatively, the extension inserts 450and 460 may be held in place in the base 425 by friction between the key430 and the locking mechanism 420, and/or when the extension inserts 450and 460 are rotated within the base 425. In other embodiments, thelocking mechanism 420 and the key 430 are interchanged, such that theextension inserts 450 and 460 include the locking mechanism 420 whilethe base 425 includes the key 430.

The mug 410 and extension inserts 450 and 460 of FIGS. 4A-4C includethermal insulation material 440 to insulate a beverage contained withinthe mug 410 and the extension inserts 450 and 460 such that the beveragedoes not quickly lose heat or cold due to ambient temperatureconditions, and to keep a surface temperature of an outside of the mug410 and extension inserts 450 and 460 comfortable for a person to touch.In order to provide efficient thermal transfer between the personalbeverage warmer and cooler 300 and a beverage contained within theextension inserts 450 and 460, the extension inserts 450 and 460 mayinclude a thermal conductive material 470 at their base. The thermalconductive material 470 may be in thermal contact with the personalbeverage warmer and cooler 300 when the extension inserts 450 and 460are inserted into the base 425 of the personal beverage warmer andcooler 300.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate the exemplary personal beverage warmer andcooler 300 of FIGS. 3A and 3B in which the extension inserts 450 and 460of FIGS. 4B and 4C are seated, respectively.

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of another exemplary personal beveragewarmer and cooler 600. The personal beverage warmer and cooler 600 ofFIG. 6 is similar to the personal beverage warmer and cooler 300illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B except that the personal beverage warmerand cooler 600 includes a notch 610 for a handle of a beverage container(e.g., the mug 350) on both sides of a recessed portion 615 in which thebeverage container may be seated. The personal beverage warmer andcooler 600 of FIG. 6 includes a thermally conductive material 620surrounding the recessed portion 615 and a base 630 (e.g., the coolingplate 230 and/or the heating plate 280 of FIGS. 2A and 2B). Thethermally conductive material 620 may improve thermal conduction betweenthe base 630 of the personal beverage warmer and cooler 600 and abeverage container such as the mug 350 or the extension inserts 450 and460.

FIG. 7A schematically illustrates a side view of still another exemplarypersonal beverage warmer and cooler 700. FIG. 7B schematicallyillustrates a cut-away side view of the personal beverage warmer andcooler 700 of FIG. 7A. The personal beverage warmer and cooler 700 ofFIGS. 7A and 7B includes a thermally conductive material 705 forming arecessed portion 710 in which a cup, mug and/or extension inserts may beseated. The conductive material 705 may be functionally similar to theconductive material 620 described with reference to the personalbeverage warmer and cooler 600 of FIG. 6. The personal beverage warmerand cooler 700 also includes an air inlet 720 on a side, and an airoutlet 730 on a bottom of the personal beverage warmer and cooler 700. Afan 740 within the personal beverage warmer and cooler 700 circulatesair from the air inlet 720, into operational proximity with a heatexchanger 760 such as the heat sink 240 or cold side 290 (FIGS. 2A and2B) coupled with a thermoelectric module 750 (e.g., the thermoelectricdevice 220), and out through the air outlet 730. The personal beveragewarmer and cooler 700 may make more efficient use of space in aninstallation than the personal beverage warmer and coolers 300 and 600and may, therefore, be well suited for use in the passenger seatenvironment 100 illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8A schematically illustrates a plurality of the exemplary personalbeverage warmer and coolers 700 of FIGS. 7A and 7B assembled or situatedadjacent to one another. As shown in FIG. 8A, the plurality of personalbeverage warmer and coolers 700 may be assembled within the beverageholder zone 160 (FIGS. 1A and 1B) to serve as the plurality of beverageholders 110 illustrated in FIG. 1. FIGS. 8B and 8C illustrate oppositeside views of the plurality of exemplary personal beverage warmer andcoolers 700 of FIG. 8A assembled or situated adjacent to one another. Asillustrated in FIG. 8C, the personal beverage warmer and coolers 700 mayhold beverage containers such as the mug 350 and/or the extensioninserts 450 and 460. As illustrated in FIGS. 8B and 8C, a control panel810 including a control switch and an indicator may be disposed at a topsurface of the personal beverage warmer and cooler 700 adjacent to therecessed area in which the mug 350 and/or the extension inserts 450 and460 may be seated. The example control panel 810 may be substantiallysimilar to the control panel 310, and may include a control switchsimilar to the control switch 312 and an indicator similar to theindicator 314 as described elsewhere herein.

FIGS. 9A-9F illustrate various views of the exemplary personal beveragewarmer and coolers 700 of FIGS. 7A, 7B, 8A, 8B, and 8C.

Functions of the exemplary personal beverage warmer and coolersdisclosed herein may be controlled by a controller according toinstructions of a software and/or firmware program executed by aprocessor of the controller. Alternatively, some or all of the disclosedembodiments may be implemented using any combination(s) of fuses,ASIC(s), PLD(s), FPLD(s), FPGA(s), discrete logic, hardware, firmware,etc. Also, some or all of the disclosed embodiments may be implementedmanually or as any combination of any of the foregoing techniques, forexample, any combination of firmware, software, discrete logic and/orhardware. The software program (e.g., machine-readable instructions) maybe stored in any number and/or type(s) of tangible computer-readablestorage media or non-transient computer-readable storage media. As usedherein, “computer-readable storage medium” expressly excludes any mediumon which a signal propagates. The software program may be written in acomputer-programming language (e.g., C, C++, etc.) compiled to beexecutable by the processor of the controller. Examples of types ofcomputer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, amagnetic storage media (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, and amagnetic tape), optical recording media (e.g., a compact disc (CD), adigital versatile disc (DVD), etc.), an electronic storage media (e.g.,an integrated circuit (IC), a read-only memory (ROM), a random-accessmemory (RAM), an electronically erasable programmable read-only memory(EEPROM), and a flash memory), a quantum storage device, a cache, and/orany other storage media in which information may be stored for anyduration (e.g., for extended time periods, permanently, brief instances,for temporarily buffering, or for caching). The storage medium may alsobe distributed over network-coupled computer systems (e.g., anetwork-attached storage device, a server-based storage device, and/or ashared network storage device) so that the program instructions arestored and/or executed in a distributed fashion.

Embodiments may be disclosed in terms of functional block components andvarious processing steps. Such functional blocks may be realized by anynumber of hardware and/or software components configured to perform thespecified functions. For example, the embodiments may employ variousintegrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements, processingelements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, which may carryout a variety of functions under, for example, the control of one ormore microprocessors or other control devices. When elements of theembodiments are implemented using software programming or softwareelements, the embodiments may be implemented using any programming orscripting language such as C, C++, Java, assembler, or the like, withthe various algorithms being implemented by any combination of datastructures, objects, processes, routines and/or other programmingelements. Furthermore, the embodiments could employ any number ofconventional techniques for electronics configuration, signal processingand/or control, data processing and the like. The word “mechanism” isused broadly herein and is not limited to mechanical or physicalembodiments, but can include software routines in conjunction withprocessors, etc.

The particular implementations shown and disclosed herein areillustrative examples or embodiments of the invention and are notintended to otherwise limit the scope of the invention in any way. Forthe sake of brevity, conventional electronics, control systems, softwaredevelopment and other functional aspects of the systems (and componentsof the individual operating components of the systems) may not bedescribed in detail. Furthermore, the connecting lines, or connectorsshown in the various figures presented are intended to representexemplary functional relationships and/or physical or logical couplingsbetween the various elements. It should be noted that many alternativeor additional functional relationships, physical connections or logicalconnections may be present in a practical device. The use of any and allexamples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as” or “for example”)provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the disclosedembodiments and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the inventionunless otherwise claimed. Moreover, no item or component is essential tothe practice of the invention unless the element is specificallydescribed as “essential” or “critical”.

As the disclosed embodiments are described with reference toillustrations, various modifications or adaptations of the methods andor specific structures described may become apparent to those skilled inthe art. All such modifications, adaptations, or variations that relyupon the teachings of this disclosure, and through which these teachingshave advanced the art, are considered to be within the spirit and scopeof the invention. Hence, these descriptions and drawings should not beconsidered in a limiting sense, as it is understood that the inventionis in no way limited to only the illustrated embodiments.

It will be recognized that the terms “comprising,” “including,” and“having,” as used herein, are specifically intended to be read asopen-ended terms of art. The use of the terms “a” and “and” and “the”and similar referents in the context of describing the embodiments(especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construedto cover both the singular and the plural. Furthermore, recitation ofranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthandmethod of referring individually to each separate value falling withinthe range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value isincorporated into the specification as if it were individually recitedherein. Finally, the steps of all methods described herein can beperformed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein orotherwise clearly contradicted by context.

1. An apparatus to regulate the temperature of a beverage near a seat ofa vehicle, the apparatus comprising: a base including a thermallyconductive material that conducts heat in a direction that is at leastone of to or from a container seated thereon; a thermoelectric devicethermally coupled with the base and to be energized to exchange heatwith the base; and a heat exchanger thermally coupled with thethermoelectric device and a liquid medium to exchange heat therebetween.2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the liquid medium is air, theapparatus further comprising a fan that blows air in thermal contactwith the heat exchanger.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thethermoelectric device is to be energized by a power supply to heat thebase.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the thermoelectric device isto be energized by a power supply to cool the base.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 1, further comprising a switch that changes a polarity of a powersupply that energizes the thermoelectric device, wherein a first stateof the switch causes the power supply to cool the base, and a secondstate of the switch causes the power supply to heat the base.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the base further includes a lock thatmates with a key of an extension insert to secure the extension inserton the base, the extension insert dimensioned to receive a containerholding the beverage.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the basefurther includes a recessed portion dimensioned to receive a containerholding the beverage.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: apower supply; and a processor to control the power supply to maintain atemperate of the beverage.
 9. A seating area of a vehicle, the seatingarea comprising a temperature regulating apparatus including: a baseincluding a thermally conductive material that conducts heat at leastone of to or from a container seated thereon; a thermoelectric devicethermally coupled with the base and to be energized to exchange heatwith the base; and a heat exchanger thermally coupled with thethermoelectric device and a liquid medium to exchange heat therebetween.10. The seating area of claim 9, further comprising a second temperatureregulating apparatus including: a second base including second thermallyconductive material that conducts heat to or from a second containerseated thereon; a second thermoelectric device thermally coupled withthe second base and energized to exchange heat with the second base; anda second heat exchanger thermally coupled with the second thermoelectricdevice and a second liquid medium to exchange heat therebetween.
 11. Theseating area of claim 9, wherein the liquid medium is air, thetemperature regulating apparatus further comprising a fan that blows airin thermal contact with the heat exchanger.
 12. The seating area ofclaim 9, wherein the thermoelectric device is to be energized by a powersupply to heat the base.
 13. The seating area of claim 9, wherein thethermoelectric device is to be energized by a power supply to cool thebase.
 14. The seating area of claim 9, further comprising a switch thatchanges a polarity of a power supply that energizes the thermoelectricdevice, wherein a first state of the switch causes the power supply tocool the base, and a second state of the switch causes the power supplyto heat the base.
 15. The seating area of claim 9, wherein the basefurther includes a lock that mates with a key of an extension insert tosecure the extension insert on the base, the extension insertdimensioned to receive a container holding the beverage.
 16. The seatingarea of claim 9, wherein the base further includes a recessed portiondimensioned to receive a container holding the beverage.
 17. A methodcomprising: energizing a thermoelectric device at a vehicle seat to afirst state to cool a beverage container thermally coupled to thethermoelectric device when a first user input is received; andenergizing the thermoelectric device to a second state to heat thebeverage container when a second user input is received.
 18. The methodof claim 17, further comprising: exchanging first heat between thethermoelectric device and a heat exchanger; and exchanging second heatbetween the heat exchanger and a liquid medium.
 19. The method of claim17, wherein energizing the thermoelectric device to the first statecomprises applying an electrical current to a Peltier device, andenergizing the thermoelectric device to second state comprises applyingan opposite electrical current to the Peltier device.
 20. The method ofclaim 17, wherein the first user input corresponds to a first positionof a switch, and the second user input corresponds to a second positionof the switch.